Happy Soul Art Journal

Hi everyone. 

I watched Donna Downey's Inspirational Wednesday videos all afternoon yesterday. Yes! I'm now obsessed with art journal. She made it looked SO easy. Splash here, drip there..and play wet paint with your fingers. I LOVE her. 

So inspired, I quickly whipped a simple art journal. Right now, the pages are still blank but in a few days....(hopefully), I'd be adding something colorful & meaningful in there. Here is how my newest art journal looks like;

I stamped a butterfly with Stazon at the back. The covers are made from linen-burlap cloth, which is soft to the touch yet has some texture. On the side, I attached a skeleton key with multicolor fibers. I need colors since the cover is quite sombre. A simple closure with a button & a stretchable string. This helps when my art journal grew thicker later. (I'm admiring Donna's thick art journal *wink*). I love naming my art work with beautiful words. Delicious tittle too.

These are some blank pages inside my journal. I simply stapled watercolor papers, canvas sheets and brown paper bags to the cover. Oh, I'm so ready to paint and collage on these pages. It is good to have blank art journal/canvas handy, you never know when inspiration strikes. Sometimes, a simple doodling will do :)).

I could see blue sky and greeneries from where I'm sitting right now. The birds flying by and the breeze. It's a nice day out. Happy Friday everyone.

XO,
Shahrul

'She Creates' Art Journal

Hi lovely readers.
 I like to share with everyone my latest DT project for Scrappingville. I had a wonderful gift of beautiful saree fabrics from my friend Sharon Yong earlier this month. And I literally shrieked out of sheer joy. LOL. And immediately I knew what my next project would be. So, here is the completed project. My first fabric art journal (and my most colorful project too). I was inspired by two of my favorite mixed-media artists' work; Kelly Rae Roberts and Christy Tomlinson. And in this project, I have used many of their power phrases. Love love it.

Inspired by Christy's 'She Art' series, I have named this project 'She Creates'. LOVE these saree's vibrant colors!. 

On the back, I glued bright earings that mimic the red pom pom. Attached a couple of vintage wooden bobbins and a glass bottle (with messages) to the side. So much fun to have a little glass shaker! embedded in any project. One of the message in the bottle says, 'She believed' :). Stitched some pretty glass beads to the saree fabric for additional embellishment. I used a metal hook & a 'play' ring as a closure for this journal. 

I build the pages by glueing a couple of brown paper bags to make one long page. Then, covered it up with a saree fabric. It is quite tricky to work with the delicate & easily frays saree material, so just work around gently. Created a few more pages before stapled them all down with a staple gun. I glued some pattern papers on to the 'ugly' side of the page where the saree fabric ends meet. Lastly, added the closure & embellishments.

This is such a fun project to make, I promise :)). More like an art combo; making a fabric mini album AND writing an art journal!. How great is that?. 

If you're interested to learn how to make this fabric art journal, hop on to Scrappingville store in May and join my classes :)). Do check out their May classes schedule here by May 1st. Have a great week ahead!.

XO,
Shahrul

Material used:
* Pattern Papers: Christy Tomlinson She Art Paper 12' X 12', 7 Gypsies Lille Paper (Life is Good), 7 Gypsies Paddington Paper (Picadilly), Crate Paper Portrait Collection
* Maya Road Wooden Doilies
* Maya Road mini wooden bobbins
* Glitz Teeny Alpha
* Glass Bottle: Living Cabin
* Tim Holtz Bottle Caps
* Tim Holtz Bottle Cap Images

Chic Jotter Altered Book

Hey folks. Sorry for the long pause. I've been busy finishing some very special watercolor paintings of my favorite singer, Josh Groban and his cute dog Sweeney!. Sweeney's 5th birthday is coming up in July, so i decided to send them the paintings as a birthday gift. I may show some sneak peek of them later :)

Ok, one of my May DT project for Scrappingville is completed. Yay!. It's another altered book project to celebrate my love for flea marketing!. So I made a funky notebook, called it 'Chic Jotter' to take some notes, ideas or jotting down important contacts & date related to my junking hunt. Here is how it looks;

I got this gorgeous old book from an antique store at Publika, Dutamas Solaris. I like the romantic front cover, it'll be a shame to cover it up with gesso. This is a very much boho-girl jotter. I decoupaged some roses & stamped flower motif on the cover. I got carried away and added plastic flowers to the spine and some brass metal strings as handle. Carry it along to the flea market like a little tote!.

Essentially, this is a simple notebook to make. I have used brown paper bags as the main pages. Some of them were left bare while others pasted with black & white pattern papers. I also glued a variety of lace ribbons along the edge of each page. Front page from the beautiful original old book cover. Lastly, used 1" copper binder from Zutter (Bind-It-All)to hold all them together. 

Inside, I have added pockets and little enclosures to keep little notes or tags. Some are blank pages to add lists of many fun things to jot. LOL. Movies to watch after, or places to go eat and chatting over new found treasures.  A cool reminder of the essential tools for junk hunt. I'm a gypsy at heart. Embracing my love for tattered old items and make art to my heart's content. So I think, this quote is just perfect for me.

I will be teaching this class @ Scrappingville in May. Come join in the fun making this book and lots of laugh to be sure.

Have a good Monday everyone!. Happy creating.

XO,

shahrul 

Products used:

* P.Paper: 7 gypsies Lille Paper (Life Is Good & Picadilly), Far Flung Craft (Chinese New Year), Crate Paper (Portrait Collection), Echo Paper Co. (For The Record) & Pink Paislee (Junque).

* Echo Paper Co. stickers (For The Record).

* 7 Gypsies loops & hooks.

* 7 Gypsies book belt.

* 7 Gypsies Autocollants (Collections From The Journey & Document).

* Glitz Teeny Alpha.

Rain Brings Calmness

hello. I thought I like to share a scene from where I live. It is raining now as I'm typing away this post. Weather is cool, dark and the overgrown (almost a small forest) behind my apartment is misty with all the rain. So I took this picture about ten minutes ago. (The time now is 6.35 pm).

I love the crisp air when it rains. The smell of fresh raindrops from the sky. Well, listening to Josh Groban's songs in the background helps, LOL.  Fresh air. Feel blessed that even when the world is so polluted, the lucky ones among us (like me this very minute) still enjoys peaceful and beautiful nature. Right in their backyard. Bliss. Wishing you a great week. 


XO,
Shahrul

Chest of Drawers LESSology Challenge #13

Hello crafters. I have been keeping an old cupboard for months, waiting for inspirations. For sure it needed some work.

Remember the old cupboard that I'd blogged earlier?.

 Then I saw LESSology latest challenge; Chest of Drawers. Perfect timing!. As I badly need more storage for my acrylic paint. This humble old cupboard has great potential. It's not really a dresser, but it has drawers .. *wink*. There are two rows of shelves, skinny enough to keep the little bottles. (Kelly, you're right. The chicken coop wires are cool!). I like how it turned out with just some paint job, pattern papers, flowers and laces.

A small cupboard for storing my acrylic paint bottles. They sure be happy to live in here now :)).

I loved how the paint chipped when I pulled off the bird cage stamp. Now the bird has a longer tail :)). See it?. I was lucky. Added inspiring words; 'SOAR' and 'FLY' into the design.

Chicken coop wire really does the trick!. Making it look country-ish. Although, I had to add laces & roses to 'soften' the texture a bit. Lastly, more paper butterflies glued to the side.

Glad that I finally get this cupboard altered. Thanx LESSology! Stay tune for more. I'm making fabric books next. 

XO,

Shahrul

I'll Take Your Word For It - The Funkie & Frilly Challenge

Hello friends. 

I'm having fun cleaning up my study/studio these two days. Found sooooo many things I'd never knew I owned. LOL. Which is GOOD, because that means more recycle projects coming up, right?. Indeed.

I decided that I need a new signage for the study room. Something which calls me to come in and have some fun playing with paint & papers. With inspiration from The Funkie & Frilly latest challenge (I'll Take Your Word For It), I started working. This is what I made to hang above the study/studio door. 

I must say that this project is quite chunky :)

I love Picasso's quote that says " Art washes away from the soul, the dust of everyday life". It's true ... I think all of us artsy souls agree on this. So, that'll be the first thing I see before creating art. Clever Picasso!. Picasso quote is from mymodernmet.

So many odd bits I found like old alpha chipboards, wooden cloth pins and scrap ribbons. In this project, I recycled an old wooden frame, gave it a new coats of white paint and sanded the edges. I used a cover of an old book as the main canvas of my work. And four copper strings attached to the frame to hold the main layout. Something I've never done before.

I used mismatched alphas (originally in pink & orange), torn the covers and later inked. The smaller word 'ART' on the button echoes the bigger 'ART' alphas. 'The Story' is actually a cut out from an old book cover!. Not to forget, I stapled on a necklace with a very beautiful vintage Eiffel Tower pendant & skeleton key to the frame as well. Love it. And I added a string of faux pearls around the bottom end of the frame. Playful & girlish.


So, I'm off now to clear the room a little bit more. Have a good weekend. Adios.


XO,
Shahrul